“My Friends, We Were Robbed!”

Introduction:

“My Friends, We Were
Robbed!” is the title of
a book by Rabbi Uri
Zohar which describes
his journey of return to
our spiritual heritage.
In this letter, we will
discuss the meaning of
the title of his book,
and our discussion will
begin with some
information about his
life before he became a
rabbi:

Dear Friends,

Rabbi Uri Zohar is an
Ashkenazic Jew who was
born in Tel Aviv in
1934, and he was
educated in secular
Zionist schools. The
State of Israel was
established in 1948. In
1952, he graduated high
school, and within a few
years, he became a
popular stand-up
comedian. In 1960, he
studied philosophy at
the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, and this
interest in philosophy
would later lead to
spiritual changes in his
life. During the 60’s,
he directed and starred
in Israeli films;
moreover, he became a
popular television and
radio talk-show host.
During the 70’s, he
reached the height of
his entertainment
career, as he was
considered by many to be
the top comedian,
television and radio
talk-show host, social
satirist, actor, and
film-producer on the
Israeli scene. His
performances were valued
not merely for the
entertainment they
provided, but also
because they provided
astute and sharp-tongued
observations about
Israeli society.

It was during the late
1970’s that he began to
search for his spiritual
roots. This process
began after his
encounter with a wise
Torah teacher in
Jerusalem who challenged
some of Uri’s secular
prejudices towards
Judaism. Uri therefore
began an attempt to
investigate the veracity
of Judaism’s claim that
the Torah is of Divine
origin. His serious and
long investigation led
him to accept the Torah
as Divine truth, and on
a step-by-step basis, he
began to keep the
mitzvos of the Torah.

The commitment of this
famous Israeli
personality to the
spiritual path of his
people shocked many
secular-oriented Israeli
Jews. The first shock
was when they noticed
that he began to wear a
yarmulke on the
television show he was
hosting. They were even
more shocked when he
gave up fame and fortune
in order to study Torah.
In fact, after he
decided to study Torah
at a yeshiva, he
received a million
dollar offer from some
Hollywood producers. His
answer was: “Sorry
Gentlemen, I won’t be
able to make it. I’m
going off to yeshiva.”

His studies led him to
become a rabbi. He then
became a noted teacher
and activist within
Chareidi organizations
that are engaged in
spiritual outreach to
secular-oriented Jews in
Israel.

As part of his outreach
work, he wrote several
books, and one of the
books is a spiritual
autobiography titled,
“My Friends, We Were
Robbed!” The title
expresses the shock and
anger that he felt when
he discovered that the
secular Zionist
education that he
received when he was
growing up in the Land
of Israel “robbed” him
of the spiritual
heritage of the People
of Israel. In order to
understand his shock and
anger, we need to be
aware of the following
aspects of the education
that he received:

The students in the
secular Zionist schools
learned about the
military victories of
our ancestors in the
Land of Israel; however,
with rare exceptions,
they did not study the
teachings of our
prophets that reveal the
spiritual purpose of the
Land of Israel. In
addition, the students
were taught about the
political and military
factors which led to our
exile from the Land, but
they were not taught
about the underlying
spiritual causes. For
example, they were not
exposed to the following
prophetic message:

“For what reason did the
land perish and become
parched like the desert,
without a passerby?
Hashem said: Because of
their forsaking My Torah
that I put before them”
(Jeremiah 9:11, 12).

The students were not
given information on how
Jerusalem served as the
spiritual center of our
people through the
Temple, as well as
through the Supreme
Court of Torah sages
which was located in one
of the courtyards of the
Temple. In addition,
they did not learn about
the Torah centers that
existed in the Land
after the destruction of
the Second Temple. They
therefore did not know
about the Mishnah – the
classical text of the
Talmud – which was
written in the Land
during that period.

They were also unaware
of the prophecies which
reveal that Jerusalem
will become a spiritual
center for all humanity;
thus, they were not
familiar with the
following prophecy which
became part of the
traditional liturgy of
our people:

“For from Zion will go
forth Torah, and the
Word of Hashem from
Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3).

The students did not
learn about the
spiritual
accomplishments of our
people during the
centuries of our exile.
They did not even learn
about the basic
principles and precepts
of our spiritual
heritage. For example:

They did not learn about
the Torah’s path of
mitzvos. They were
therefore unaware that
there are mitzvos which
call upon us to engage
in actions which nurture
and elevate the world,
including ourselves. And
they were also unaware
that there are mitzvos
which prohibit actions
which damage and degrade
the world, including
ourselves.

They did not learn about
the spiritual aspects of
the sacred Sabbath of
our people and how this
sacred day enables us to
experience serenity and
shalom through
reconnecting to our
Creator and all
creation.

They did not learn about
the Shema – the
following proclamation
of the Divine Oneness
and Unity which
expresses a central
principle of our faith:

“Hear O Israel, Hashem
is our God, Hashem is
One!” (Deut. 6:4)

Jews from the Diaspora
who would visit Israel
or settle in Israel were
often shocked to
discover that the
majority of Jewish
children in Israel were
unaware of the Shema.
The following story
about Rabbi Irving Bunim,
a prominent American
Jewish educator and
community activist, can
serve as an example:

During a trip to Israel
in the late 1950’s,
Rabbi Bunim visited
Tsfas (Safed) – a city
in the north of Israel.
He met a Sephardic boy
on the street for whom
he recited the Shema.
Rabbi Bunim smiled, and
asked the boy, “What I
am saying?” The boy
stared back quizzically.
Rabbi Bunim, still
smiling, repeated the
Shema a bit more
loudly. The boy,
however, simply
shrugged.

Rabbi Bunim was in
tears. Standing before
him in the Holy Land was
a Jewish boy who did not
have the slightest
knowledge of this basic
tenet of his own faith
and heritage. Rabbi
Bunim vowed then and
there to increase his
efforts on behalf of
“Chinuch Atzmai” – a
network of
Torah-committed schools
in Israel that were
under the guidance of
leading Torah sages.
(This story appears in
the biography of R.
Irving Bunim titled, “A
Fire in His Soul.”)

The ignorance of the
Shema still exists
within Israeli secular
schools, and this was
discussed in an article
in the Jerusalem Post by
Daniel Gordis, (“Why not
Uganda?” Sept. 18,
2008). After describing
his son’s encounter with
a gifted high school
graduate who never heard
of the Shema,
Gordis points out: “An
exceptionally talented
kid, he’d gone to
Israeli schools his
entire life and didn’t
know something so basic
that almost any American
Jewish kid getting even
a rudimentary Hebrew
school education would
have considered
obvious.”

The educational policy
of Israel’s secular
Zionist schools was
based on the idea that
Jewish nationalism had
replaced the Torah as
the guiding spirit of
our people; in fact, the
World Zionist
Organization adopted a
resolution in 1911 which
stated, “Zionism has
nothing to do with
religion.” Rabbi Uri
Zohar was therefore
correct when he
proclaimed, “My Friends,
We were robbed!” He and
his friends who received
the secular Zionist
education were robbed of
their spiritual
heritage, as it is
written:

“The Torah that Moshe
commanded us is the
heritage of the
Community of Jacob.”
(Deuteronomy 33:4)

According to our
tradition, the above
verse is the very first
verse which is taught to
each Jewish child when
he or she first learns
to speak. In this way,
Jewish children are made
aware at an early age
that the Torah is the
heritage that belongs to
each of them and to all
of them.

Through the outreach
efforts of Rabbi Uri
Zohar and many other
Torah-committed men and
women, a growing number
of our brethren in Zion
are rediscovering their
spiritual heritage. They
therefore find special
inspiration when they
chant the following
words from a traditional
morning prayer:

“How good is our
portion, how pleasant
our lot, how beautiful
our heritage – we, who
early and late, morning
and evening, twice each
day, proclaim:

‘Hear O Israel, Hashem
is our God, Hashem is
One!’ ”

Have a Good, Pleasant,
and Beautiful Shabbos,

Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen

Related Comments:

1. It is good that we
have Torah-committed
speakers, teachers, and
writers who are engaged
in spiritual outreach.
We need to be aware,
however, that one does
not have to be a
speaker, teacher, or
writer in order to
engage in spiritual
outreach. As we
discussed in the
previous letter about
the loving hospitality
of Avraham and Sarah,
one can also engage in
outreach through the
spiritual power of one’s
own noble example,
especially in the way
one treats other people.

2. “My Friends, We were
Robbed!” was published
in English by Feldheim
Publishers in 1994, but
it no longer appears on
their website. You may
still be able to get
copies at some book
stores.

3.
“A Fire in His Soul” is
a biography of Rabbi
Irving Bunim, whose
Hebrew name is Yitzchok
Meir. The author is his
son, Rabbi Amos Bunim,
and the publisher is
Feldheim:
www.feldheim.com
.

4. Tu B’Shvat – the New
Year of the Trees –
begins on Wednesday
evening, January 19th.
Regarding the Torah, it
is written, “She is a
tree of life” (Proverbs
3:19). May we therefore
be nurtured by her
life-giving fruits.